Lakes located in the Polish and Slovak parts of the Tatra Mountains were included in the Tatra di... more Lakes located in the Polish and Slovak parts of the Tatra Mountains were included in the Tatra diatom database (POL_SLOV training set). The relationship between the diatoms and the water chemistry in the surface sediments of 33 lakes was the basis for the statistical and numerical techniques for quantitative pH reconstruction. The reconstruction of the past water pH was performed using the alpine (AL:PE) and POL_SLOV training sets to compare the reliability of the databases for the Tatra lakes. The results showed that the POL_SLOV training set had better statistical parameters (R2 higher by 0.16, RMSE and max. bias lower by 0.2 and 0.36, respectively) compared to the AL:PE training set. The better performance of the POL_SLOV training set is particularly visible in the case of Przedni Staw Polski where the curve of the inferred water pH shows an opposite trend for the period from the 1960s to 1990 compared to that based on the AL:PE dataset. The reliability of the inferred pH was con...
Aquatic insects have been studied in five Czech (Černé, Čertovo, Prášilské, Plešné, and Laka) and... more Aquatic insects have been studied in five Czech (Černé, Čertovo, Prášilské, Plešné, and Laka) and three German (Grosser Arbersee, Kleiner Arbersee, and Rachelsee) lakes and their inlets and outlets in the Bohemian Forest. All available historical and present records, as well as many unpublished data were summarised. Of nine insect orders, 70 families, 214 genera, and 373 species/taxa were found in total (Ephemeroptera 20, Odonata 22, Plecoptera 37, Heteroptera 35, Megaloptera and aquatic Neuroptera 3, Trichoptera 46, Coleoptera 58, Chironomidae 113, other Diptera 39). All aquatic insect groups are discussed from the point of view of species richness, influence of acidification, ecological requirements, distributional ranges of species, and species protection. Altogether 215 species/taxa were found in the lakes, where Heteroptera, Coleoptera, and Chironomidae were the most species-rich groups (135 taxa). The lowest number of taxa was recorded in strongly acidified Čertovo Lake and Ra...
Data on benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages of two alpine lakes in the Tatra Mts (Slovakia) col... more Data on benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages of two alpine lakes in the Tatra Mts (Slovakia) collected in 1914, 1933, 1979–1982, 1993–1997, and 2000 were collated and analysed in an attempt to define their relationship to major environmental events affecting these alpine lakes over the last century. The oldest data were considered an important background before the onset of acidification in one of the lakes in the 1950s, while the most current contain possible information on biological recovery. Results show that data from the 1910s are insufficient to characterize the macroinvertebrate fauna. Deep zone assemblages of both studied lakes have remained stable since the 1930s. Changes in the density of dominant species over time were found in the acidified lake, suggesting a connection between an increase in phosphorus and chlorophyll-a concentration. The composition of the littoral assemblages in the acidified lake in the 1930s indicates that the lake was not strongly acidified at th...
1 Štátna ochrana prírody SR, Centrum ochrany prírody a krajiny, Lazovná 10, 974 01 Banská Bystric... more 1 Štátna ochrana prírody SR, Centrum ochrany prírody a krajiny, Lazovná 10, 974 01 Banská Bystrica [vavrova@sopsr.sk] 2 Fakulta ekológie a environmentalistiky, Technická univerzita Zvolen, Kolpašská 9, 969 01 Banská Štiavnica [bitusik@fee.tuzvo.sk] VAVROVÁ, Ľ., BITUŠÍK, P., 2003: New locality of Unio crassus Philipsson, 1788-Bivalvia, Paleoheterodonta) in Slovakia. Folia faunistica Slovaca, 8: 35-37. Abstract: As one of the most significant European mollusc species, Unio crassus is listed in Appendix II, IV Habitats Directive. It is considered to be vulnerable species. It was rather common in Slovakia in the past, recent scarcity has been caused by water pollution and destruction of stream habitats. Paper reports on a finding of living population of U. crassus in Čierňanka brook in Žilinská kotlina valley (north-western Slovakia). The population seems to be very small and eventual input of waste waters from settlements and agriculture (cattle breeding) means substantial risk for thi...
The influence of different thermal regime on the structure of macrozoobenthos in two mountain str... more The influence of different thermal regime on the structure of macrozoobenthos in two mountain streams, Tomanov potok and Javorov potok (High Tatras Mts.) is analysed in the frames of investigation. The streams are situated at an altitude approx. 1300 m and run through supramontane zone. 83 macrozoobenthic species found were classified according to their temperature requirements as oligostenothermal and mesostenothermal ones. 25 species, of the Plecoptera, Trichoptera and Dip- tera orders, belong to oligostenothermal ones, occur only in the cold stream of Javorov potok with temperature below 7 °C. Mesostenothermal species occurring in the stream of Tomanov potok in- cluded mainly species of the Ephemeroptera order. Thermal regime in the monitored mountain streams has a decisive effect on macrozoobenthic communities. It acts discontinuously in the direc- tion of the shift of vertical stream zoning. As a result of balanced thermal regime and low temperature Javorov potok acquires a tra...
Headwater streams are the smallest parts of rivers but make up the majority of river miles. The c... more Headwater streams are the smallest parts of rivers but make up the majority of river miles. The chemistry and macroinvertebrate composition of such streams are among the most important indicators of their environmental health. Macroinvertebrates are affected namely by runoff genesis and, in many regions of the world, also by acid atmospheric deposition and its consequences. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impacts of an extreme summer flash flood on the physical environment, chemistry and macroinvertebrates in a small headwater stream located in the Beech-woods National Nature Reserve of the Jizera Mts. (Northern Bohemia, Czech Republic). The studied stream is characterized by a pluvial hydrologic regime with perennial streamflow uniformly distributed within the year, with peak-flows originating mainly from summer rainstorms, and moderate current anthropogenic acidification. During the observed summer flash flood of the return period near 1,000 years, high currents (1-2.5 m ...
The first summarising checklist of Ukrainian Chironomidae (Insecta, Diptera) consisted of 302 spe... more The first summarising checklist of Ukrainian Chironomidae (Insecta, Diptera) consisted of 302 species. Compared to other European countries, it is obvious that the real chironomid diversity of Ukraine has not been fully documented and greater effort is needed to discover the actual richness of this family. Thus, our survey focused on the chironomid fauna of some alpine lakes situated above the treeline in the Ukrainian Carpathians (a part of the Eastern Carpathians) aiming to contribute to the knowledge of the Ukrainian chironomid fauna and create the basis for more comprehensive neo- and palaeolimnological studies of these, regionally, little-known ecosystems. In total, 34 species/taxa, belonging to 22 genera and 4 subfamilies were collected in June 2019. Ten species were recorded for the first time in Ukraine: Zavrelimyia melanura, Acamptocladius reissi, Cricotopus speciosus, Cricotopus curtus, Heterotrissocladius marcidus, Orthocladius dentifer, Psectrocladius oligosetus, Polyped...
The magnitude, composition, temporal and spatial patterns of mammal road mortality were assessed ... more The magnitude, composition, temporal and spatial patterns of mammal road mortality were assessed along some sections of two different road types (I/51 and R1) connecting the towns of Banská Bystrica, Zvolen and Banská Štiavnica (Central Slovakia). Road kills were surveyed using a car, three or four times per week from March 2008 to December 2012. We conducted 440 surveys, traveling a total of 39,700 km, and recorded 5,416 road mortality events (120 kills per km on average). Mammals were represented by 693 individuals (12.8% of the total number of carcasses) identified into 20 species and categories, respectively. The most frequently identified species were fox, hedgehog and domestic cat, a substantial part fell into the category of small mammals, as they could not be mostly identified to a genus. We found significant temporal and spatial differences in the magnitude of road-kills and identified several road segments as mortality hotspots both for all observations and for each season. Using logistic models we found significant relationships between the number and composition of the mammal casualties and higher proportion of arable land, built-up areas and roads in the landscape bordering the roads. Road topography was found to be among the important variables in explaining road-kills as carnivores were most susceptible to be killed on the raised segments and insectivores and herbivore mammals on the raised or buried segments of the roads. Construction of the fence along the R1 expressway in 2010 was related to significant decrease in road-kills, however, significantly higher mortality level was recorded at the segments with the underpass where streams with line riparian vegetation are crossed by the road. This effect was not identified at segments with expressway feeders. This finding suggests that the line vegetation continues to serve as migration corridor and leads animals to the R1 road where they find defects in fencing and try to cross through them and enter the road.
Chironomid stratigraphic changes were studied in three man-made reservoirs situated in a region i... more Chironomid stratigraphic changes were studied in three man-made reservoirs situated in a region intensely used for mining in the past (Banska Stiavnica, Central Europe) The reservoirs were built in the first half of the 18th century and are remnants of a former hydro-energetic system that provided water for operating mining and smelting facilities until the 1920s. The dated sequence of sediment cores span the last 170–200 years, however the oldest sediments were not identified. A total of 58 taxa were recorded with the most common taxa being Cladotanytarsus mancus-type, Polypedilum nubeculosum-type, Procladius spp. and Tanytarsus spp. Changes in the subfossil assemblages suggest that all reservoirs followed similar developmental trends. The low number of chironomid remains and the prevalence of littoral and rheophilic taxa characterize the initial phase of reservoirs connected with severe water level fluctuations and unproductive conditions. A dramatic shift in both qualitative and ...
The Chironomidae of Albania have so far received limited attention and only 39 species have been ... more The Chironomidae of Albania have so far received limited attention and only 39 species have been recorded prior to the present study. Here we bring the results of random and non-intensive samplings of chironomid pupal exuviae and adults, at five localities in 2012, that provided 55 species and 5 additional taxa, with 51 being new for the Albanian fauna, out of which 7 were new for the Balkan Peninsula. In addition to that, we present a preliminary checklist of Chironomidae based on the data from Fauna Europaea complemented by the results of the recent investigation. The catalogued fauna now contains 85 species in 44 genera and 6 sub-families.
The climatically most extreme lakes in the High Tatra Mountains are populated with species-poor c... more The climatically most extreme lakes in the High Tatra Mountains are populated with species-poor chironomid communities dominated by
Chironomids are known to be extremely versatile in utilizing food sources and colonizing diverse ... more Chironomids are known to be extremely versatile in utilizing food sources and colonizing diverse habitats. This is probably one of the reasons for their extreme distribution. They often occupy surprising habitats and feed on unexpected sources. Such an uncommon food source for aquatic Chironomidae is fallen fruits in streams and lakes. To the best of our knowledge such feeding habits have only been reported from South America, where larvae of the genus Endotribelos are widespread and common dwellers of fruit tissues of several tree species in forested streams (Roque et al. 2008).
Buchonomyia thienemanni is the only species within the subfamily Buchonomyiinae known from the we... more Buchonomyia thienemanni is the only species within the subfamily Buchonomyiinae known from the western Palaearctic. Saether & Spies (2013) document the presence of this species in nine western and central European countries, as well as the Britain Islands and Corsica. Perhaps in part due to the unique and distinctive pupal exuviae, other recent studies have served to broaden the geographical distribution of this species. Specifically, recent reportings of B. thienemanni in the Czech Republic (Ashe et al. 2014) as well as Russia (Ashe et al. 2015) indicate that this species has a much broader distribution eastward and northward than previously anticipated.
Six chironomid species: Paraboreochlus minutissimus (Strobl, 1894), Trissopelopia longimanus (Sta... more Six chironomid species: Paraboreochlus minutissimus (Strobl, 1894), Trissopelopia longimanus (Staeger 1839), Boreoheptagyia monticola (Serra-Tosio, 1964), Cricotopus (s.str.) similis Goetghebuer 1921, Heleniella serratosioi Ringe, 1976, Krenosmittia camptophleps (Edwards, 1929), were recorded in Czech Republic for the first time. The pupal exuviae were collected in July 2009 from Otava River in the vicinity of Rejštejn village in the central part of the Bohemian Forest. The notes on known distribution and ecology of the species are presented.
Five chironomid species: Thienemannimyia vitellina (Kieffer, 1916), Orthocladius (Pogonocladius) ... more Five chironomid species: Thienemannimyia vitellina (Kieffer, 1916), Orthocladius (Pogonocladius) consobrinus (Holmgren, 1869), Parachironomus danicus, Lehmann 1970, Tanytarsus norvegicus (Kieffer 1924) and Tanytarus smolandicus, Brundin 1947 were recorded in Slovakia for the first time. The pupal exuviae were collected in 2012-2013 from 9 water reservoirs. Details on finding with the notes on distribution and ecology are presented.
A checklist of benthic macroinvertebrates of ponds of Tatra Mountains is presented. The checklist... more A checklist of benthic macroinvertebrates of ponds of Tatra Mountains is presented. The checklist comprises 122 taxa including the first records of Derotanypus cf. sibiricus (Kruglova & Chernovskii, 1940) (Diptera: Chironomidae) and Arctocorisa carinata (Sahlberg, 1918) (Heteroptera) from Slovakia. The most diverse pond site supported 28 taxa, the minimum number of recorded taxa was 2. The richest group was Chironomidae (Diptera) constituting almost half of the total diversity (58 taxa), followed by Trichoptera with 15 taxa. The other higher taxonomic groups were represented by considerably lower taxa number. Relatively high number of recorded taxa underlines important contribution of small lentic waterbodies to regional biodiversity of high-altitude ecosystems.
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Papers by Peter Bitušík